Sun screen article

ABSTRACT

A sun screen article protecting at least an arm and a shoulder, and optionally a portion of the neck and/or a portion of the hand of a person wearing it from excessive exposure to solar radiation, and method of using the sun screen article inside a vehicle. The article includes a tubular portion adapted to protect an arm and a flap adjoining the tubular portion and adapted to protect a shoulder. An optional collar portion affixed to the open and of the flap is structured to screen at least a portion of the neck. An epaulette, in affixable cooperation with the flap of the sun screen article, prevents a shoulder harness from freely moving with respect to the sun screen article and a body of the sun screen article from sliding down the arm of the wearer.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application claims benefit of and priority from the U.S.Provisional Patent Application No. 61/473,580 filed on Apr. 8, 2011 andtitled “Sun Screen”. The entire disclosure of this provisionalapplication is incorporated herein by reference.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to means of protection from excessiveexposure to solar radiation and, more particularly, to a sun screenconfigured for use by a person within a vehicle.

BACKGROUND ART

It is a very common practice for a person inside a vehicle to extend aportion of an arm outwardly beyond the window. If the arm so extended isdirectly exposed to sunlight, the person will experience sunburn. Toaddress this problem, various garments have been proposed. And yet nosolution has addressed the problem completely. A need still exists for asingle-arm garment which would shield not only a wearer's arm, but alsoa shoulder, and/or neck and, possibly, a wearer's hand as well fromsunburn, and which is not coupled with or affixed to the neck or headportions of the body.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Embodiments of the present invention provide a sun screen article andmethod of exploitation of the sun screen article. One embodimentincludes a tubular body having input and output ends that are oppositeto one another; a flap securely connected to said input end along aportion of a perimeter of said input end to define a dihedral anglebetween a surface of the flap and a surface of the tubular body; acollar portion integrated with the flap along a second side of the flapthat is opposite to the portion of a perimeter of the input end to whichthe flap is secured; and a strap having first and second strap ends. Thestrap may be attached, at its first end, to the flap proximate thesecond side of the flap, either permanently or removably, and have itssecond end configured to be securely attachable to the flap proximatethe portion of a perimeter of the input end to which the flap issecured. In a specific embodiment, the attached strap defines anepaulette on the flap, which is configured to securely accommodate avehicular shoulder harness, which in one embodiments may be a seat-belt,between the epaulette and the flap when the sun screen is worn within avehicle. In one embodiment, the collar portion may be configured toextend transversely with respect to the flap and, optionally, to concealthe first end of the strap attached to the flap from being observable.

In addition, an embodiment of a sun screen may further comprisefastening means attached to at least one end of the strap. The sunscreen may be further configured as a sleeve dimensioned to accommodate,inside the tubular body, an arm of a person wearing the sleeve inside avehicle, when the fingers of the person remain substantially outside ofthe output end and the flap covers the person's shoulder and the collarportion covers at least a lower portion of the person's neck, with theepaulette being adapted to restrict a shoulder harness under theepaulette such as to removably retain the tubular body of the sleevefrom sliding down the arm of the person.

Another embodiment provides a sun screen for use in a vehicle thatincludes a sleeve having an input end and an output end and an internalcavity extending between these ends, the sleeve appropriately configuredto receive an arm of a person inside the vehicle through said input endand to fit over said arm while enclosing said arm within the internalcavity and allowing the person's fingers to project outwardly beyond theoutput end; and shoulder harness attachment means in re-affixablecommunication with the sleeve. In one specific embodiment, the shoulderharness attachment means is configured to fit over the seat belt worn bythe person while sitting in a car seat next to a vehicular window and toenclose a portion of the seat belt within a loop that is defined, atleast on one side, by said shoulder harness attachment means. Theseshoulder harness attachment means is further adapted to substantiallyprevent the shoulder harness from sliding down the sleeve.

In one embodiment, the sleeve of the sun screen may include a placket atthe output end of the sleeve, and further have the interfacing ends ofsuch placket to be releasably affixable to one another with a use of atleast one of a hook, a button, a Velcro, a snap, and a zipper. Theembodiment of the sun screen may further include a shoulder portion atthe input end, which is dimensioned to cover a shoulder and to extend toa neck of the wearer. Moreover, the shoulder harness attachment means ofsuch embodiment may incorporate a strap having its first end attached toat least one of the sleeve and the shoulder portion and another endreleasably attachable to at least one of the first end of the strap, theshoulder portion, and the sleeve. Such shoulder harness attachment meansmay be configured as an epaulette of the sleeve.

Yet another embodiment of the invention provides a method for screeningan arm of a person sitting inside a vehicle next to a window fromsunlight with a sun screen having a body with input and output openingsand a strap affixable to the body, the length of the body beingsubstantially commensurate with the length of the arm. The methodincludes at least the steps of extending the body over the arm such asto have the arm pass through the input opening and inside the body untilthe fingers are substantially outside of the output opening projectingoutwardly therefrom, and until the input opening is positioned proximateto a person's shoulder; fastening the shoulder harness (which in oneembodiment may be a vehicular seat belt); and removably attaching thestrap to the body such as to form a loop around a portion the shoulderharness and define the loop at least on one side by the strap. The loopso defined constrains the shoulder harness and prevents the body of thesun screen from sliding down the arm. The used sun screen may be adaptedto have a first end of the strap to be permanently affixed to the bodyproximate the input opening and a second end of the strip to containfastening means. The step of removably attaching the strap to the bodymay include wrapping the strap over the shoulder harness such as toprevent the body from sliding down the arm and, optionally, affixing thesecond end of said strap proximate to the first end. Moreover, the strapmay be configured to be removably attachable, with the use of fasteningmeans to the sun screen's body at both ends of the strap.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The invention will be more fully understood by referring to thefollowing Detailed Description in conjunction with the Drawings, ofwhich:

FIGS. 1A, 1B, 1C show an embodiment of the invention in front, side, andback views, respectively.

FIG. 2 illustrates details of the embodiment of FIGS. 1(A-C).

FIG. 3 provides another view of the embodiment of FIGS. 1(A-C).

FIGS. 4(A, B) illustrate output ends of the embodiments of FIGS. 1(A-C).

FIGS. 5(A, B) depict alternative embodiments of the present invention.

FIGS. 6(A, B) illustrate alternative output ends including a placketcorresponding to embodiment of FIG. 5B.

FIGS. 7(A, B) show additional alternative embodiments of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Definitions. For the purpose of this disclosure and claims appendedherein, the following terms are defined to have meanings as indicatedbelow unless required by context otherwise. A loop generally refers to aring-like figure formed by a portion of a cord, ribbon, strap etc., thatis folded or doubled upon itself at least once (or, in the alternative,that is attached at its ends to another element) so as to leave anopening between the parts, or anything having or forming this figure.For example, a ring-like fastening, whether tight or loose, formed by abelt around a person's waist provides an example of a loop.

The ordinary motorist (or his passenger) may wish to shield a hand andan arm from sunburn while driving along on his or her usual daily route,or on longer vacations drives. Air conditioning is great, but driving ona lovely day with one's arm resting on the ledge of an open car windowis found enjoyable by many drivers. The driver's enjoyment, however, canbe shattered if the drive results in severe sunburn to the hand, arm,shoulder, and neck. This problem is exacerbated in case of along-distance driving such as trucking. This creates a concomitantproblem of forcing the driver (and/or a passenger) of the vehicle tostore a jacket or other garment in the vehicle for the express purposeof wearing such garment to protect the arm beyond the window of thevehicle from being sunburned.

The garment designs of the related art disclose some features beneficialto the driver's needs. A single-arm type of garment would be most usefulsince usually, at least for drivers, the left hand and/or arm is themost likely to be sunburned. The solutions of the related art haveseveral shortcomings. To begin with, some solutions do not take intoaccount the safety aspect of the design of a corresponding garment. Inparticular, such solutions are configured to be attached to the head orthe neck of the person wearing a garment, which, in the case any otherportion of the garment is pulled or dragged away, would impose aphysical strain on the person wearing the garment. It is appreciatedthat the successful design of interest should not result in aconventional long-sleeve shirt or jacket in that it should not cover thetrunk of the person wearing it, and should accommodate the specifics ofbeing worn inside the vehicle. Moreover, even when a proposed garment isnot fixated to a portion of the wearer's body, such garment leaves ashoulder and/or a portion of the neck exposed to direct sun-light,thereby creating an awkward situation when an arm of the wearer isscreened from the sun but the shoulder and/or the neck is not. Putsimply, such garment provides only a partial solution to beingsun-burned. Consequently, a need still exists for a single-arm garmentwhich would shield at least a driver's arm, shoulder, and neck or,possibly, a driver's hand as well from sunburn and that is de-coupledand not attached to with the neck or head portions of the body at thesame time. The garment should preferably be fabricated of sun-resistant,durable, washable material and of simple design and construction foreasy wearability by a driver. The simplicity of design and constructionwould also ensure inexpensive manufacture of the garment. The garmentshould be foldable to a compact size for easy storage and transport.

Embodiments of a sun screen article configured to protect a forearm, anupper arm, a shoulder and, optionally, a portion of the neck of a personfrom excessive solar radiation exposure through a window of a vehicle isschematically illustrated herein in several views. Referring to thedrawings and, particularly, to FIGS. 1(A-C), an embodiment 100 of thesun screen is shown to include a tubular portion having an input end 102a and an output end 102 b; a flap 104 attached to the open end 102 aalong a portion 106 of the perimeter of the open end 102 a; and a strap108 that is attachable to the flap 104 at the ends of the strap such asto form an epaulette defining an openable gap between the epaulette andthe surface of the flap 104 after the strap has been attached at itsboth ends. In one embodiment, the flap 104 may be integrated with thetubular portion having through a curved seam line defining a dihedralangle between the surfaces of the flap and the tubular portion.Alternatively, the flap may be formed by a seamless continuation of thetubular portion (not shown) such as to define one region of the tubularportion 102 a that is longer than another region of the tubular portion102 a. In this specific embodiment, the longer-protruding andshorter-protruding regions define an opening, of the input end 102 a,that is generally oblique with respect to the tubular portion itself. Ineither case, the tubular portion 102 and the flap 104 are appropriatelydimensioned such that both the arm and the shoulder of a person, thathas pulled his hand through the input end 102 a into the tubular portion102 until his fingers protrude outwards through the output end 102 b, asshown in FIGS. 1(A-C), are covered.

In further reference to FIGS. 1(A-C) and referring to FIG. 2, anembodiment 100 of the sun screen article may further include a collarportion 110 that has at least one material layer and is attached to theflap 104 at its free end along a curved peripheral portion 202 of theflap 104. The curved peripheral portion 202 is generally opposite to theperimeter portion 106. Preferably, the collar portion 110 includes aportion protruding transversely with respect to the flap 104. As shownin FIG. 2, the collar portion 110 includes two material layers 110 a,110 b connected to each other through a fold 204 such as to increase thestiffness of the collar portion 110. The collar portion 110 isjudiciously dimensioned such as to cover at least a lower portion of theneck of the person wearing the sun screen article and, optionally, mostof the neck at a side of the neck that corresponds to the sun screenarticle when worn.

The strap 108 may be attached to the flap 104 permanently at one end ofthe strap and removably at the other end of the strap (e.g., one end ofthe strap could be sewn to the flap while another end may containfastening means such as a button/button-hole, a hook/hook-eye, Velcro,snap-fasteners or other equivalent means). Alternatively, both ends ofthe strap 108 can be configured to be re-attachable to the flap 104 b atthe discretion of the user, with the help of at least one of theabove-listed fastening means at each of the ends of the strap. In theembodiment of FIG. 2, for example, the permanently-attached end of thestrap 104 is normally concealed from view by the collar portion 110. Inoperation, another end 210 of the strap 108, shown in FIG. 2 to includea fastening means 212 (shown as a patch of Velcro), is pulled over aportion of the shoulder harness 216 such as, for example, a seat belt,and removably affixed, through the means 212 in proximity of the openend such as to partially restrict the movement of the shoulder harnesswithin a loop that is formed by the strap 108 and the flap 104 once bothends of the strap 108 are articulated with the flap. Referring now toFIG. 3, this capture of the shoulder harness, made possible by thestrap-defined openable loop 308, prevents the embodiment of the sunscreen article from sliding down the person's arm even with no othermovement-restrictive means such as belts, lock, ribbons etc that areconventionally employed by garments of the related art.

As shown in FIGS. 4(A, B), embodiment 400 may include a placket 402 atthe output end of the tubular body 102, which facilitates the wearing ofthe sun screen article on the arm and allows to cover a portion of thehand of the wearer once the placket's ends are cooperated with oneanother through the attachment means 404 (shown as a button and abutton-hole). The presence of a placket portion 402 accommodates thethumb of a driver and allows it to protrude outwards from inside thetubular body 102 so as to freely, without restriction, grasp thesteering wheel of the car while still covering an upper region of hishand.

An embodiment 500 of FIG. 5A illustrates an alternative structure of thesun screen article of the invention including a sleeve 502 having anopen slit 504 extending along the sleeve between the input and outputends 502 a, 502 b of the sleeve 502. The sleeve 502 contains asubstantially rectangular or, in a specific embodiment, trapezoidalpiece 506 of flexible material that is turned upon itself at its firstside and that has two corners corresponding to this side connected toeach other, either permanently or reattachably, so as to form the openinput end 502 a that has a closed perimeter. To this input end 502 a theflap 104 is attached, as described above, along the perimeter curve 106that, in a specific embodiment, includes a curved seam. A side of thepiece 506 that is opposite to the input end 502 a is adapted to havefastening means (not shown) so as to be closable upon itself therebydefining the output end 502 b, by analogy with that described inreference to FIG. 4, and an opening to accommodate a thumb. Theembodiment 500 provides, therefore, an open slit or area 504 extendingbetween that is configured to facilitate the ventilation of the armotherwise covered by the sun screen article 500.

FIG. 5B depicts another alternative embodiment of the invention in whicha tubular body 520 has a seam 524 extending between an open end 520 aand a tip 526 of a placket 528. In addition, the end of the placket 528corresponding to an output end 520 b of the body 520 has fastening means(not shown) equivalent to those as described above. It is worth notingthat, while tubular body 102 require at least two independent processsteps to create a placket portion 402 as part of the body 102 of FIGS.1(A-C), and 2 through 4(A,B), embodiments of FIGS. 5(A, B) have theplacket fabricated in one step at the same time as the correspondingbody 502, 520 is formed by either sawing the opposite sides of thematerial layer together at a point in proximity to the output end 502 b(FIG. 5A) or sewing the opposite sides of the material layer togetheralong the majority of its length to create a seam 524 (FIG. 5B).

FIGS. 6 (A, B) show, in more detail, the arrangements of the outputportion of the embodiment of FIG. 5B including the coordination betweenthe seam 524, the placket 528, and the output end 520 b.

In reference to FIGS. 7(A, B), another alternative embodiment of theinvention is shown to include a sleeve 702 having an input end 702 a, anoutput end 702 b, and a strap 708 attached, at one of its ends, 709, inproximity to the input end 802 a and adapted to form a loop aroundvehicular shoulder harness, as described above. In a specificembodiment, the length of the strap is judiciously chosen to be longerthan about twice the width of a typical shoulder harness such asvehicular seat-belt by the amount sufficient to accommodate attachmentmeans 710 (a patch of Velcro, for example) to another, free end of thestrap 712. The output end 702 b may define a ring-like opening or, in aspecific embodiment, may include a placket as described in reference toFIG. 4, which simplifies the process of putting the sun screen articleonto the arm and accommodates a thumb for firmer grasp of the steeringwheel. This embodiment of the sun screen article is essentially adaptedto cover the arm and an upper portion of the hand of the person wearingit. As shown, a seam 716 is configured to define a placket 718 in amanner similar to that described in reference to FIGS. 5B and 6A(, B).

While the invention is described through the above-described exemplaryembodiments, it will be understood by those of ordinary skill in the artthat modifications to, and variations of, the illustrated embodimentsmay be made without departing from the inventive concepts disclosedherein. For example, the output end of an embodiment may include amitten covering the fingers of the wearer completely, thereforeconfiguring the embodiment such as to provide total coverage of thewearer's lower neck, shoulder, arm, and hand with fingers, excepting thewearer's thumb only. It should be readily apparent that an embodimentcan be made in different sizes, be made of fabric that is appropriatelyflexible to assure comfortable wearing, and that is optionally treatedwith means blocking UV radiation, such as, e.g., UV blocking solution,and that is provides protection from exposure to solar radiation whetheror not the arm of the wearer is extended from the vehicle. However, thetype of material used for fabrication of claimed embodiments is notlimited to any particular fabric. Embodiments of the invention areergonomically correct and functional at the same time, in that they arestructured to reduce the physical confinement and associated discomfortof the wearer while at the same time increasing the wearer's operationalflexibility and safety. The same embodiment of a sun screen article isreversible in that it can be worn on either left or right arm withoutmodifications. Worn on either arm, the strap as well as the thumbopening is in the correct orientation with respect to the wearer. It isalso appreciated that modern implementations of shoulder harness mayinclude the shoulder portion of the harness and the lap belt integratedwith one another and sharing a single belt strap. Alternatively, ashoulder harness may include two individual belt-straps, one securingthe shoulder of the wearer and another securing his lap. Furthermore,disclosed aspects, or portions of these aspects, may be combined in waysnot listed above. Accordingly, the invention should not be viewed asbeing limited to the disclosed embodiment(s).

1. A sun screen article comprising: a tubular body having a tubularsurface and input and output ends, the input end defining an input endperimeter; a flap portion having a flap surface and a flap perimeter,the flap perimeter including first and second sides opposite to oneanother, the first side adjoining said tubular body along a portion ofthe input end perimeter to define a dihedral angle between said flap andtubular surfaces; a collar portion integrated with the flap portion tobe separated from the tubular body by the flap portion; and a straphaving first and second strap ends, the first end attached to the flapportion.
 2. An article according to claim 1, configured to be worn by awearer in a vehicle to continuously cover a part of a wearer's bodyincluding a forearm, and elbow, an arm, a shoulder, and a portion of aneck and to leave exposed a chest and a back of the wearer.
 3. Anarticle according to claim 1, wherein the first strap end is attachedeither permanently or removably to the flap portion proximate the secondside thereof.
 4. An article according to claim 1, wherein the secondstrap end is configured to be securely attachable to the flap portionproximate said portion of the input end perimeter.
 5. An articleaccording to claim 1, wherein the strap is adapted to define anepaulette on the flap portion, the epaulette adapted to securelyaccommodate a vehicular shoulder harness between said epaulette and theflap portion when the article is worn within a vehicle.
 6. An articleaccording to claim 1, wherein the collar portion extends transverselyfrom the flap portion, the collar portion adapted to conceal the firststrap from being observable.
 7. An article according to claim 1, furthercomprising a placket at the output end configured to accommodate awearer's thumb protruding therethrough when the article is worn.
 8. Anarticle according to claim 1, wherein the tubular body includes an openslit extending along the sleeve component from the input end towards theoutput end.
 9. A sun screen article comprising: a sleeve componenthaving input and output ends, an internal cavity, and a shoulder portionthe input end, the sleeve component configured to receive an arm, anelbow, and a forearm of a person inside a vehicle through said input endto fit over said arm while enclosing said arm, elbow, and forearm withinthe internal cavity and continuously covering a shoulder and a portionof a neck of the person with the shoulder portion, the sleeve componentincluding an open slit extending from the input end towards the outputend; and a shoulder harness affixed to the shoulder portion, defining anepaulette thereon, and configured to be in releasable cooperation with aseat belt of the vehicle.
 10. An article according to claim 9, furtherincluding a placket at the output end, the placket having interfacingend releasable affixable to one another.
 11. An article according toclaim 10, wherein the placket defines an opening configured, when thearticle is worn, to accommodate a thumb of the wearer to have the thumbprotrude outwards from inside the sleeve component that is dimensionedto cover a palm of a hand of the wearer.
 12. An article according toclaim 9, wherein the shoulder harness is configured to include a straphaving a first end attached to the shoulder portion and a second endattachable to the shoulder portion, and wherein the shoulder portion isadapted to conceal one of the first and second ends from beingobservable when the article is worn inside the vehicle.